


Rust

by SummerOfShadows



Category: Original Work
Genre: Character building, Classism, F/F, F/M, M/M, Period-Typical Racism, Period-Typical Sexism, Pirates, Post-Apocalypse, Racism, Sci-Fi, Slow Burn, Strong Female Characters, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:55:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24474637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerOfShadows/pseuds/SummerOfShadows
Summary: After nearly 700 years under the rule of an organization known as Tvert the people of the sky are beginning to take a stand. The people who's last war left Earth uninhabitable eons ago are preparing to fight another in their only safe refuge, the sky. Piper, a young teen mystery has joined the fight. From the problems thrown her way will her innocence survive or much less will she survive. Follow Piper along on this exciting sci-fi adventure as she and her allies attempt to overthrow the cruel empire.





	1. Intro

Metals, iron, tin, steel, brass, copper. These elements are highly coveted as they are used to build the huge ships that hold entire countries, cities, towns, and villages up thousands of feet in the sky. Ever since WWIII the Earth's surface has been too radioactive to approach resulting in these floating masses which were created by some of the brightest minds. 

Humanity has lived in the sky for over 800 years now. An organization known as Tvert became the ruling government, they rule the sky with an iron fist. Most are blissfully unaware to the semi-peaceful takeover of the organization, but a few are not; it only takes a few to spark rebellion. 

It was around 100 years ago that pirates began popping up. The pirates will sabotage ship engines, plunder, loot, take over islands leaving mass causalities wherever they go. Pirates are regarded as the worst types of criminals. If you are one the general number one rule is no matter what don’t get caught!


	2. Chapter 1

It was around 100 years ago that pirates began popping up. The pirates will sabotage ship engines, plunder, loot, take over islands leaving mass causalities wherever they go. Pirates are regarded as the worst types of criminals. If you are one the general number one rule is no matter what don’t get caught! 

# 

Piper is a 14 year old girl she was orphaned at age three and out for revenge against those who destroyed her home, The Empire. Her idea of revenge is becoming the most feared and problematic pirate ever. She began her journey after saving up money (stolen from nobles) to buy a ship. She named it the Rust. It was made of scraps of other ships and true to its name it was covered in red and orange rust. Despite its older appearance the ship was sturdy ship and could defend like no other. 

The young girl hung off the side of the ship holding onto a rope. She held her hand over her mismatched eyes to block out the glare of the sun. Her right eye was a piercing vibrant blue while her other was molten gold. They scanned the horizon until they found their target. 

"Island ahead!" She called up to the deck. A young red head peered over the rail, furry fox ears swiveled on top of his head. His brown eyes met hers and he gave her a toothy grin which showed off his pointed canines. 

"What type?" He asked. 

"Village." She answered. They needed to prepare to sneak on and resupply without being spotted. She tucked a piece of her unnatural white hair behind her ear. The boys ear twitched and the swish of a tail could be heard. 

"Aye captain!" He called back onto the deck "Pull in the flags!" He relayed the usual procedure to the crew. The boy's name is Dex, he is three years Pipers senior but acts four her junior. He is the only beast race crew member of the Rust. 

The flags of the Rust held the usual skull and crossbones with a few alterations mind you. One of the first personalization's was a crack that ran through the skull from the tip of the skull to its bone teeth, and an orange reddish rust started from the top left corner and faded away at the left eye socket. When passing by Islands they tended to avoid unnecessary combat by pulling in the flags as they were doing now and hiding all pirate related contraband. 

Piper turned around and almost crashed into Riley the sailing master. Riley is a plump man with already greying blonde hair and is her oldest crew member at 34 years old. The man is very smart and an amazing navigator but seeing him without his two human shadows was odd so she scanned the ship for them. 

She looked around for the twins, Bav and Dagger, they should be up on the mast taking down the flags. The 24 year old's are two of her three gunners but they also work a few other small jobs around the ship and as previously mentioned follow Riley practically everywhere. 

Scanning the deck again she saw James and Charles taking in the guns. James is her third gunner he had only been with them about three months and Piper was still keeping an eye on the 22-year-old to make sure he would not put her other crew members in danger. Charles on the other hand was a ex-empire powder monkey but she saved him when he fell off his ship while cleaning an overhanging gun. He was unusually old to be a powder monkey at 17 years old but he was loyal and he acted as cabin boy as well. 

One crew member was hidden from sight, Corafv the ships resident surgeon. The man was three years Riley's junior and was quite as a mouse. He rarely emerged from his room which also doubled as the med-bay. He was reliable but a little too introverted for most of the crew's comfort. She looked around trying to spot the still one missing crew member but did not have enough time as Riley called an order for them to change clothes. 

As they approached the island the dock director, a person in charge of making sure ships parked correctly, began to guide the disguised pirate ship into port. Once parked he held his hand out for the docking toll. Piper mentally rolled her eyes and placed 12 silver coins in the man's palm. The man smiled and walked away back to his station awaiting another ship to guide in. 

Piper turned around to face her crew of which only 7 were present, still missing two. Corafv she could understand he practically never left the ship but Dakota was missing and that was unacceptable. The tall 18-year-old had been below deck probably cooking while they pulled in the flags so maybe he didn't realize they had docked. 

"Kota!" She used the older boy's nickname when yelling below deck. It took a few minutes but finally a head of black hair appeared from below deck. His blue eyes met with Pipers. He nodded at her and walked into the group of men. 

"Hey Koat!" Dex teased and jumped on top of the older one's back. Dakota barley shifted under the other boy's weight and just grabbed Dex by his collar and put him down on the ground. Piper stood in front of the group and commanded their attention. Once all eyes were on her she began. 

"Now that we are all here~" she didn't get far before getting interrupted by a loud BOOOOM! An explosion rang through the Island. Piper whipped around, her golden and blue eyes met crimson red ones. 

"Found you Conway!" The red eye's owner smirked using Piper's last name. Piper's eyes widened in fear. While there was not many things Piper feared, this red eyed woman was one of those not many. The woman pulled out a black cylinder from a holster at her hip. She laughed and flicked her wrist causing a glowing rope to pop out of the stick. Piper frozen in fear was only pulled back to reality by Dex grabbing her arm and pulling her back onto the ship. "You can't run from me girl!" The woman's smile was unnatural. 

Riley quickly gave orders to prepare for launch. The folded flags were unfurled revealing the stark white of the cover flags. The engines revved to life quickly not having had enough time to cool down from their landing. Bav, Dagger, and James each took a gun. Charles ran across the deck like a chicken with it's head cut off pulling in ropes and ties that kept the ship in place. Piper snapped out of her funk and began to run towards the helm. Along the way she picked up her discarded pistol and blade and clicked them into place at her hip. She quickly took her place at the helm and began barking orders to everyone. 

"You just don't get it do you?" The red-eyed woman cackled. "You CANNOT escape me!" 

"You said that the last 20 times you've tried to catch me." Piper mumbles as the ship lurches forward engines kicking in ropes keeping it in place gone. "Do we have enough fuel to hyperjump!?" Hyperjump meant the ship could travel at hyper speed and go halfway around the world in a second. 

"PROBABLY NOT!" Charles called from over the rail he hung on by a rope, checking the fuel tanks supply and fighting the loud wind around him. 

"Damn it! Battle stations!" Piper cried. Her gunners were already in place and Riley was ready at stern with the rocket launcher cannon. Dex was actually sitting still, legs folded across his lap revealing inhuman paws at the ends. He swayed back and forth arms moving methodically. A huge brilliantly colored circle appeared around him. Runes appeared in the circle and began to spin. 

Across the deck Dakota's blue eyes lit up with unnatural light and a holographic screen appeared around him. It showed the island, the woman and the Rust. It also showed the woman taking over a parked merchant ship. 

The red eyed woman must have commandeered a weapons merchant ship as bullets and explosives began to rain down upon the crew from the merchant ship but luckily Rust's defenses held up. Piper pulled out her pistol and loaded it with the magical bullet she saved for occasions just like this and aimed at the bow of the merchant ship and fired. 

The resulting explosion gave enough time for the Rust crew to perform a boost jump. A lesser version of a hyper jump. 

"Brace yourselves!" Riley called out. Everyone grabbed a rail or a nearby solid object. Piper sighed in relief until she heard a subtle beeping noise. She looked to the mast and nearly cried out. It was a tracker on the mast. 

"DESTROY IT!" Piper screamed at James who stood there staring at it. He smashed the glowing object with the butt of his sword but was too slow as a loud noise alerted the crew to the arrival of the merchant ship. Piper looked for an escape but was surprised to see hundreds of ships in their way, was it an ambush? Her eyes flickered with fear then hardened. They would fight to their last breath. "WE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM!" She yelled to her crew who echoed her war cry with their own calls. 

"Damn it we cant keep this up! Fire up the hyperdrive!" She shouted after almost thirty minutes of fending off constant attack. 

"But there's not enough fuel especially after the boost!" Charles said angrily. 

"I DON’T CARE DO IT I’LL WORRY ABOUT THE DAMN FUEL!" Pipers eyes shone as the sun hit them perfectly. The Rust would make it out, she had to. She ran below deck to change into proper pirate attire. She could feel the ship rock and shake as it took the bullets and explosions at practically point blank. As Piper pulled her binder on she smirked, no one could pierce Rust's armor! Piper ran out as she pulled on her hat. 

The ship entered a jump but the scenery that met them was more ships! Also the red-eyed woman's ship had followed them through the jump. Piper began to panic until she properly scanned the surrounding area and realized they were in a shipyard. She must have been in lady lucks favor as the shipyard was an abandoned one meaning those ships did not have any crews! 

"Turn starboard!" She called to Dex who had in the chaos had taken the steering wheel. The boy gave a foxy grin and threw the wheel to the side. The ship gave a violent lurch as it turned. Piper put her pistol back into its holster and grabbed her blade. She waited until they passed and abandoned carrier and jumped onto the old ship. The merchant vessel passed seconds later and the red eyed woman jumped off whip in hand. 

"Hello again little girl. You can't run from me you know that." She laughed and cracked the whip. Piper glared at the woman watching her movements or lack thereof. It was then that Piper realized it was a hologram. She pivoted around so fast she gave herself whiplash and was just in time to meet the sting of the whip across her face. 

Blood seeped out of the laceration but Piper couldn't feel it with the adrenaline pulsing through her veins. Piper lunged forward with sword held behind her. She swung the blade but it passed through the woman, another hologram! The crack of the whip followed by pain as it tore a long line across her back from her shoulder blade to her mid-back. Piper turned and managed to graze the woman's side as she darted away. 

"Catch me if you can brat!" The woman jeered. Piper growled and slowly turned in a circle to look for the woman. 

In front, behind, above, under, side, the red eyed woman was everywhere and it was driving Piper to the brink of insanity. 

"Stop running COWARD!" Piper screamed angrily. This made the woman snarl and vanish. Piper looked around but not a sign of life was present. Then an excruciating pain from her abdomen. Piper looked down and saw a blade protruding from her stomach. Shit, this hurts, she thought. 

"I'm not a coward girly!" The woman twisted the sword. Piper screamed in pain as the sword dug into her flesh. She saw out of the corner of her eye a flash of black hair. 

"Get off of her Ace!" Came an angry voice. Piper looked up through fuzzy eyes to see the crystal blues of Dakota's eyes. She sighed in relief as the woman known as Ace let go of the sword. Ace jumped back and growled at Dakota. 

"What are you doing here?" She seethed. 

"Protecting Piper." He answered. 

"You? Protect her? Ha, don't make me laugh little brother!" Piper sunk to her knees weakness taking over her body. She looked over at Dakota and frowned. That woman was his weakness after all who wants to murder their sibling especially one you shared the womb with? Well actually don't answer that. 

"Don't call me that!" Dakota snarled. 

"Kota we have to go!" Piper wheezed as she noticed another ship approaching. On it's deck was a Dakota look alike. Dakota followed her line of sight and grimaced. 

"Oh good it'll be a family reunion!" Ace said in a cheerful voice. 

"Dex! PORTAL NOW!" Piper screamed into the open air. A swirling energy appeared and she could see the mast of the ship. She tried to stand up but her legs kept failing her. Dakota noticed the portal and began to run towards it. He passed Piper not realizing her predicament. When he crossed into the portal alone he finally looked back and noticed Piper attempting to stand up. 

Dakota ran back through the portal and grabbed the young girl. Piper was too weak to argue. The portal closed right as Ace tried to enter through it and her whip was cut in half. 

"H-h-hy-p-e-er j-jump n-now!" Piper gasped out and then consciousness left her.


	3. Chapter 2

"Infertility and paralysis." Corafv told her after she awoke. She had fallen into a coma for three months. Her wound as she learned was a severed her spine causing paralysis anywhere below her waist. The sword had also damaged her reproductive organs rendering her infertile. The damage was done and Piper was devastated. She had dreamed of raising children once she freed the sky from the empire and she was now a cripple. 

Dakota being first-mate had taken up the position of captain in lieu of Pipers predicament. During Pipers coma Dakota had picked up a ton of supplies including a wheel chair for Piper much to the girls disapproval. Piper refused to touch it instead tried dragging herself everywhere. Dakota repurposed Dex as a info broker. During Dex's adventures he managed to acquire reliable information on the location the rebellions fleet, which most just called the Xeon fleet. Finding the fleet had been Dakota and Dex's dream since they had launched the Rust for the first time over 5 years ago now. Piper didn't want to because she knew no one would take a little girl seriously amongst adult men. She was not looking forward to the coming days of foolish boys and men. 

Piper sat on her favorite perch, the ships figurehead, a black fox with one diamond eye and one gold one. The figure head was a tribute to her and her oldest friends. The fox for Dex, black material for Dakota, and the gold and diamond eyes for Piper. She sat still on it for hours at a time looking off blankly into the distance. None of the crew were stupid enough to bother her as they all learned the hard way that Piper was no longer the bubbly girl they knew. As James put it Piper had turned into Viper. Despite Pipers bad attitude Dex would often jump up next to her without saying a word. 

"We have almost arrived at the location we received." Dex said quietly after almost 2 hours of just sitting doing nothing he didn't really say it to Piper directly. Piper made no movement no noise nothing it was only the quick rise and fall of her chest told Dex that she was still awake and not asleep. 

"Dex!" Riley called the boy's name from the stern. Dex groaned and gently tapped Pipers shoulder. Piper sat up and allowed him to go see what Riley wanted leaving her alone with her thoughts once more. 

Piper tended to observe more now that she couldn’t do anything useful, one of her more recent observations was Dakota's rough voice. She could hear him giving orders from the deck his voice raw from talking much more than he was used to even after 3 months. Piper turned her attention back to the vast expanse of the sky and realized that the Rust was surrounded by a bunch of camouflaged ships. 

"There are ships here." She said simply in a monotone voice. The statement had a much different effect on the crew. They quickly jumped into action preparing for either battle if they were empire ships or negotiations if it was Xeon. Piper looked blankly at the distorted space and saw a red bird that appeared to be on fire. She pulled out her pistol from its holster at her hip and fired at the animal. After the shot all the ships dropped the camouflage revealing over 100 ships decked with guns and decorated with golden detail work. 

She looks up at what was obviously the flagship of the rebellion, the Arcadia. The Arcadia was a ship from the sky war salvaged and renovated. It was huge next to the Rust but then again, the Rust was actually a small ship so comparing the two wasn't exactly fair. But even when measured up against another huge ship like the Queen of Spades, and empire flagship headed by Ace, it was nearly twice the size of the Queen. The info gathered on the Arcadia said it had a huge crew of around 340 men. 

"Who are you?" A loud voice boomed. Piper looked on the other ships deck and saw a man. She knew his name well at least the one he went by, Firebird, he was the head of the rebellion. Dex jumped back onto the figure head as the Rust floated upwards so its deck was at the same level as the Arcadia's. 

"Who are you and what do you want?" The brown-haired man called. 

"We are a pirate crew looking for refuge our ship is the Rust and our captain is Piper." he pointed to Piper. 

"The child?" The man laughed thinking it was a joke. 

"Yeah but acting captain right now is Dakota." He throws his hand back pointing to the tall boy. 

"I knew it wasn't the child." The man grins still thinking it had been a joke. Piper did not take kindly to the mans disregard for her skill and pulled out her pistol and shot making it the second time she shot at the man. Firebird stood stock still as a bullet took off a few strands of his chestnut hair. 

The group of crew members on the deck of the Arcadia pulled out their swords and guns. Firebird held his hand up telling the men to stand down. He looked at Piper his golden eyes searching her mismatched ones. 

"Don’t underestimate me!" Piper growled golden eye glinting in the sunlight. 

"You want me to respect you girl, then fight me in a duel!" Piper's eyes widened at Firebirds challenge. "C'mon get up girl." He told her, Pipers frown deepened. Firebird grew annoyed at the blatant disrespect. He jumped onto the figure head of the Rust before anyone of Pipers crew could do anything. He grabbed her arm and yanked her upward causing the blanket she had wrapped around herself to fall. 

She wore her usual attire a binder and shorts with a half skirt on. Because the binder only covered her chest the wound which no longer needed wrapping was visible. Red angry skin stood out brightly against the pale skin of her stomach. Firebird gasped and let go of her arm. Piper yelped as she fell back to the ground. Firebird was on the ground seconds later. 

Piper groaned as the fall jolted her and looked at where Firebird had been standing only to see Dex's fluffy tail blocking her view. 

"You have a death wish." Dex snarled ears buried in his hair tail twitching in anger and hands locked in a ready to rip into position. 

"Dex get off of him." Dex got in close to the older man's face and whispered some sort of threat that Piper could not hear. "For your information I cannot stand as I was stabbed in the back a little over 3 months ago." She explained from her seat. Firebird just laid there dumbly on the ground staring at her. 

"We came to make and alliance but I'm not so sure I'm going to let our crew mingle with egotistical jerks!" Dex snarled. Dex despite being the jokester the happy one could turn faster than a light switch if someone messed with Piper or Dakota, and well Firebird just messed with his Piper. Piper held her hand up and slid her way down the figure head back onto the deck. She tried to stand up even knowing the outcome wouldn't be any different. Even with the knowledge she still tried to stand and after almost five painstaking minutes she finally relented. 

"Dakota." She grumbled defeated. Dakota looked up and met her eyes. 

"Wheelchair?" He asked simply. Piper looked at the ground and nodded in defeat. Dakota brought over the chair an lifted Piper into it. Firebird watched confused as Piper rolled towards the stern of the boat. 

"Hey what about the negotiations!?" Firebird cried indignantly at Pipers ignorance. 

"I'm not captain right now idiot!" She yelled from her spot. Firebirds eye twitched and Dex smirked. Dakota stepped forward taking his que. 

"Oh right it's you so let find somewhere to sit and then begin." Dakota nodded at Firebirds statement and led him below deck. Piper watched them go below deck and watched as the crew of the Arcadia went back to work, the new ship not so interesting anymore. Piper grabbed the wheel rims and tried to move forward but she realized the angle of the ship kept her back. 

Really in this day and age of tech could they not make a motorized wheelchair. She knew the answer, she knew they existed but were very expensive as the parts were rare for it not to run on electricity. It was sadly more than even a pirate crew could afford. She pushed harder and the chair began to move. It was slow but she made her way to the bow of the ship. She looked over the rail and saw the rest of the rebellion fleet. Despite her annoyance she could help but go slack jawed at the vast amount of ships. 

When she was little and still lived on the island of Kjuwei (Cu-sh-way) she hero worshiped the rebellion fleet. She knew every ship at that time. Even now she could pick out the Pegasus and the Trident. She couldn't see the Chemical-X and she knew she wouldn't ever see the Galliant as it had gone down 5 years ago in a battle against the empire. 

Piper sighed and looked around the deck for something she had dropped hours before. When she spotted what she was looking for she allowed herself to roll backwards a little bit. She picked up the tattered notebook and the pencil that lay next to it. She picked up the notebook and flipped through the worn pages. The pages contained words and pictures detailed and realistic. When she flipped to a blank page she sat there thinking of what to fill it with. Should it be an image or words she did not know but she knew she needed a release for this anger and frustration. 

She didn't even realize she had begun to write until she was half-way through. It took her another hour to come to the last stanza. As she finished the poem she looked at the sun which had begun its descent. In the waning light she read the first part of the poem out loud. 

Legs won't listen any longer, 

Won't respond to my commands. 

Pale and unmoving, 

Even so their pristine appearance fools the blind. 

Leave me, leave me to rot away. 

Underestimated and pitied the anger and frustration boil, 

Bubbling over then shutting down locking everyone out. 

Unable to fight, useless to defend 

Just a heavy burden one not worth the fight. 

Leave me, Leave me to rot away. 

Duels unmatched and captain's duties unfulfilled. 

A flaming bird flies through the sky with thousands of doves behind. 

Watching them fly free hand reaching to grasp what cannot be reached. 

Leave me, Leave me to rot away. 

She was startled out of her poetic trance when arms wrapped around her. She relaxed when she realized it was just Dex. 

"We will not leave you to rot away." He whispered. Piper made no movement as Firebird, Dakota, and the rest of the Rust crew came back on deck minus Corafv. 

"Welcome to the rebellion." Firebird said with a smile extending his hands outwards. More ships appeared behind the Arcadia leaving camouflage mode. It took every bit of Pipers self-control not to show her surprise at just how much bigger the rebellion fleet was than they originally thought. "Your class will be frigate if what you say is true about escaping Ace." He stated before jumping off the rail. The crew panicked minus Piper. Seconds later a phoenix flew upwards and landed on the rail of the Arcadia. The phoenix began to shed its feathers and in it's place was Firebird. 

"Oh so that's why he calls himself Firebird." Dex mused.


	4. Chapter 3

"Bav!" Piper yelled as the young man played around with his gun shooting bottles on the tops of barrels. Bav looked at her confused. "Don't play with guns!" She scolded. Idiots, she thought to herself. One month, it had only been one month and she was about ready to strangle her crew members. 

"Firebird's comin'!" Charles called from the upper deck. Finally, Piper thought, it's not like she requested to meet with him four hours ago. She looked around for the trailing flames of the phoenix and spotted them above the ship. 

"Yo!" Firebird saluted while perching on the rail. 

"I asked to see your four hours ago!" Piper said angrily. 

"I am the leader of the entire rebellion fleet you are not my first priority girl." He replied upset. "You seem to me so far just an entitled brat, I tried to be nice, to respect you, but when you show me no respect I cannot and will not respect you!" Piper growled she was pissed she had been respectful. Dex had used his magic to see what was holding Firebird up and when they looked Firebird had young women hanging off his arms and was drinking. 

"Yeah because prostitutes are more important than us." Dex growled. "Those girls didn't even look legal!" The fox-boy bared his teeth. 

"How the hell did you know what I was doing!?" Firebird screeched much like his bird counterpart. 

"I have magic like you duhhh." Dex rolls his eyes. 

"Firebird I asked to see you because you named us a frigate ship so why are we not involved in any of the recent battle's?" Piper asked through gritted teeth. Firebird facepalmed and push a growling Dex out of his face. 

"Because the captain of this ship is a cripple and cannot lead!" 

"I’M NOT CAPTAIN RIGHT NOW, DAKOTA IS!" Piper screamed her temper rearing its ugly head. 

"And where is he hmmm? A captain should be giving orders not cooking meals." Firebird fired back. 

"He is our cook our only cook what else are we supposed to do?" Piper asked through clenched teeth attempting to rein in her anger. 

"Teach you how to cook and have you in the kitchen where women belong! Then maybe someday you'll make a good wife and supply a man with many children" It happened in seconds. Piper threw herself out of the wheel chair and punched Firebird right in the jaw. As she collapsed she grabbed his shirt and held on tightly. 

"Women are not just for making babies, cooking, and pleasing you men!" Firebird growled as Piper hung on. 

"Get off of me girl." He said quietly to Piper. "The next raid is in 2 hours get ready!" He said loudly so the rest of the crew could hear. Piper slumped to the ground as she let go of Firebirds shirt. The man transformed into a phoenix and flew off to the Arcadia in the distance. 

"MY NAME IS PIPER NOT GIRL!" She yelled after him. 

Piper was lifted back into the wheelchair by Riley who cursed Firebird out under his breath. Piper thanked the man and went over to her new room. The room was at the back of the ship under the gun deck. The room used to be Riley's, he slept there so he could be prepared to navigate should a sudden storm hit. 

Now the single room was Pipers room since the wheel chair restricted her to the deck. She hated being so useless. Once in the privacy of her own room she grabbed one of the rails that were used to steady oneself when they hit turbulence. She pulled herself out of the chair and leaned on the rail. Her legs moved like jelly and failed to hold her weight when she leaned on them. 

She collapsed to the floor in a heap of anger and frustration. She pulled herself back up taking time to appreciate her growing arm strength acquired from her need to maneuver the wheel chair around. She groaned and crawled over to her bed and pulled herself up next to the bed was a worn wooden nightstand with another notebook sitting peacefully on it. The notebook was bound in leather and whatever golden lettering had been the title was now too worn to read, the pages were browned and yellowed with age, and the spine looked manhandled. Piper reached over to the nightstand and pick up the worn notebook and she proceeded to opened to a blank page and began to doodle. 

Hours later she was still drawing when the ship lurched. Piper fell off the bed and rolled into the wall. She gave a pained grunt as she pushed herself away from the wall and reached for the wheel chair. She pulled herself into the chair and took off the wheel locks. Making her way to the door was a challenge as the ship lurched several more times. Finally, she got to the door and opened it. Outside was a literal war zone. 

She saw the Trident in front of the Rust, and behind was a ship she didn't know the name of. She was almost caught by a bullet that embedded itself into the wood next to her head. She rolled up next to Dex making sure not to get to close and get in the glowing circle that surrounded the boy. She looked around and remembered Firebirds words to the crew. So, he had been telling the truth she thought. She pulled her pistol from a pocket on the side of the chair and began to do what she could from her place on the deck. 

When she spotted the enemy ships, she groaned. While Firebird had kept his word, he put them against and easy enemy. The empire ship, Murky Waters, was piloted by a bigoted colonel. He was fat and lazy she had once watched him grab a kid in a battle forever ago and use the kids body to block the bullet. The kid had died after being shot in the head... twice. 

"Charles what the hell are you doing?" She scolded the boy as he ran back and forth upon the deck firing randomly. 

"I don't know!" He replied hysterically. 

"Well stop wasting the ammo!" The boy had the courtesy to look ashamed. "Dammit!" She cursed as a particularly strong blast hit the side of the ship causing it to lurch. She put the pistol back into it's holder and took off the wheel brakes. 

The ship lurched to the side much more violently than any other time. The rail Piper had been using to move faster gave under the her and the wheelchairs combined weight. With the rail broken the chair fell off of the deck and down to into the open sky. Piper hung onto a piece of dangling rope watching as the sunlight reflected from the metal. She groaned with the exertion she put out to pull herself back onto the deck. Dex noticed her trying to climb back on and ran over to help. He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her up on deck. 

"Are you okay?" He asked. 

"M' fine." Piper grumbled as she looked over the edge watching as the wheel chair vanished from sight. Dex's attention was pulled away by Charles crashing into him their bodies colliding. The two collapsed into a heap and Dex was quick to shove the slightly older boy off of him. Dex pulled a sword from a sheath slung on his back and ran it through the body of a Tvert soldier. Charles whimpered as the dead body fell on top of him soaking his shirt with red copper scented liquid. 

"Get up!" Dex yelled at the other boy who was quick to shove the lifeless soldier to the side. Dex grabbed Piper's arm and slung her over his back like a ruck sack. Piper growled, she hated being this useless. Dex ran to the helm and put her down on the figure head. The other rebellion ships couldn't believe their eyes. The figure head of a ship was practically a big target saying hit me here, for any ship. 

"DEX!" Piper screamed at him. "Don’t leave me here like a sitting duck!" She yelled at his retreating form. She began to crawl her way down the figure head dragging her ever useless legs behind her. Just as she almost got off the fox's head a barrier appeared and she smacked right into it. She rapped her hands against the barrier screaming her lungs out at Dex even though the boy was nowhere near her. But seconds later there was a loud popping noise. Piper's eyes snapped to the new arrival. 

She turned white as a ghost, right there behind the other empire ships was the huge looming Queen of Spades at its helm was Ace! The tyrannical woman was sneering at the chaos and turned her head slightly, seconds later the Dakota look alike from 4 months ago walked up beside Ace. 

"Tyridell." she heard Dakota hiss. 

It happened in slow motion, the empire ships parted making way for the Queen of Spades or at least that’s what Piper thought. Her assumptions were shattered once the ships helm was in sight. Her breath caught in her throat and her blood ran cold. A huge energy cannon was sitting under the helm the bright white light glowing as a too late warning to the oncoming blast. Piper screamed as a beam shot out of the cannon and raced towards them. It hit the barrier and shattered it instantly. The beam continued straight through the main mast, the searing quick burst of heat causing the metal to explode instead of just melt. Metal shrapnel flew everywhere and one managed to hit a hyper fuel tank. Exposed to the sudden heat the fuel tank burst lighting the left rear side of the ship alight with flames. 

"Dex!" Piper called out but she couldn’t hear if he replied or not over the loud ringing in her ears. While watching the flames as they ravaged wood portions of the ship she saw a blur moving through the flames. Seconds later the figure stumbled out and she realized it was two figures, Bav and Dagger. Piper swiveled around to look out at the Queen of Spade and nearly passed out. The cannon was white again meaning.... the sound it produced when it fired this time was ear piercing. 

Piper realized it was a sonic blast and if they didn't move now they would be dead. She looked up and the steering wheel and realized it was in the flame covered part of the ship. She growled in anger, she would have to use the one thing she hated the most. She pulled herself back onto the figure head and placed both hands on the onyx surface she closed her eyes and breathed. 

Her eyes shot open the whites of them were all that was visible. The ship was engulfed by a soft golden and baby blue glow, the light was gathered more prominently around her palms. She didn't hear the pop of another ship hyper jumping behind the Rust as she was too focused on the blue gold hue. 

'Move' She whispered and all of a sudden, the ship gave a lurch. When she opened her eyes, they were almost 700 ft from where they had been a mere millisecond ago. She had failed to also bring some of the cargo as it remained in the blast radius. She couldn't even have counted to one before the crates that had been forgotten by her were turned to dust, annihilated the second the sound wave hit them. 

Piper lifted her one hand from the helm to wipe away a small stream of blood that was dripping from her mouth and nose. She watched the Trident, their companion ship in this battle, ram into the front line of empire ships and then return to them with only a few scratches on its helm. The larger ships hyperdrive engines kicked on and with a loud pop that was more like a bang, it vanished. She gasped when the Rust almost collided with another much, much larger ship. She looked up and gasped, what was the Arcadia doing here!? She saw Firebird jump off the rail and fly over to the empire ships in his bird form she watched as the man flew under the wooden parts of the ships his flames spreading to the ships. The flames reminded Piper of the flames upon her own ship. She lifted her hands from the figure head causing the gold blue hue to vanish. 

"James put out th-he flames!" She screamed gurgling a little as blood pooled in her mouth, she quickly spit it out over the side of the ship. As soon as the flames were out she placed her hands back on the figure head than in her head she pictured the rebel ship yard. In a silent flash of light, the Rust was gone vanished from the battle field.


End file.
